


Fight the Fire, Fight the Fear

by kirsctein



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Free! Eternal Summer, M/M, minor kuroko no basket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 06:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3518630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirsctein/pseuds/kirsctein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke is getting home after a nice day at work when he hears that there is a huge fire in town and the house has collapsed while people inside. And the firefighter-Makoto is on duty....!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fight the Fire, Fight the Fear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eMISH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eMISH/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my dear twin Momo!! After our nice chat yesterday I just had to write this for you ;) And some minor AoKaga just because you suggested that!
> 
> (sorry about all possible typos and stuff, I couldn't use my usual editor for some... reasons... *coughs*)

Sousuke was wrapping up his shift and finishing the last reports. The day had been uneventful, only some speeding tickets and a complaint of a loud neighbor. Sousuke and his partner Rin had been only driving around, stopping for coffees every now and then. Sousuke had just written down his name on the report, when Rin came by his table.

“I heard there is a huge fire in downtown” he says, and throws Sousuke a cola. Sousuke catches it from the air, and opens it with a _fizz_. “Think Makoto’s on it?”

Sousuke gulps down the drink and replies “Guess he is, that’s near his station anyways.”

“Sounds like a real trouble. The called several units there to help keep the civilians away from the area” Rin says and takes a sip of his drink.

“Ugh, I’m glad we’re off now then” Sousuke shakes his head.

Rin points at the papers in his desk. “You done with those? I can take them to the chief, you can go already.”

“Really? Thanks a lot.” Sousuke smiles to his best friend and hands him the papers.

“No problem. See you tomorrow” Rin calls over his shoulder, already walking away and waving the papers as a goodbye.

Sousuke smiles after his friend and then starts towards the locker room. The lazy days at work make him feel even more tired than the days full of action. He cannot wait to get home and prepare something nice for dinner for Makoto. Maybe he would even cook some fish today…

 

* * *

 

Sousuke is sitting on red lights when the news comes on the radio.

“ _It’s three pm on this beautiful day and you’re listening to the local news! There is a large house fire on the downtown district, and the police is asking the people avoid communing through the area. The fire is under control, thanks to the good work of out fire department - -_ “ Sousuke chuckles at this, proudly “ _\- - but because of the smoke, the police has evacuated the nearest houses. The fire is…Excuse me a second._ ” the announcer says and there is some mumbling on the radio. Sousuke turns the volume a little higher. 

Then the announcer is back by the microphone. “ _We only just received information that the house has partly collapsed, and there is yet no information about casualties. People, stay clear of the area - -_ “ 

Sousuke feels his heart speed up and he is clenching the steering wheel, knuckles whitening. _No. No no no no no. This ain’t happening_. Sousuke turns off the radio and wildly looks around trying to see if he could still change the lane to the one going towards the downtown. 

The light changes to green, and the lines start to move. Even though the cars in front of him start to move, he waits for the next line to clear so he could move on the back of that line. The people behind him start honking at him, annoyed. “Shut up!” Sousuke mutters, his voice shaking almost as much as his hands. He knows that he really shouldn’t be driving in this condition, but what could he possibly do?

The line finally clears, and Sousuke steps on the gas and moves on the back of the other line. The traffic light is already turning to yellow, but he doesn’t stop for it. He needs to go make sure Makoto is okay. 

The tall smoke pillar is visible from far away, and Sousuke uses it to navigate closer. His heart is beating fast, his hand sweaty around the steering wheel, and all he can think about is Makoto’s safety. There are some patrol cars redirecting drivers away from the area, but Sousuke knows the officers, so they let him continue further. Soon he reaches the block where the fire is.

The evacuation has been effective, and there are almost no civilians around. Still, a yellow police line circled the place, keeping the few curious by-passers away to let the firefighters do their job. Sousuke parks his car and jogs nearer, looking around to see familiar faces. There are so many people running around, and fire trucks from at least three departments. _And those are from Makoto’s…_ There are few ambulances too, and police officers standing around near the yellow line. Sousuke has just decided to approach one police officer standing nearby to ask for an update on the situation when someone calls his name. 

“Oi, Yamazaki!” 

Sousuke looks around, and spots Aomine on duty nearby. He jogs to him, feeling slight relief. Aomine does not look anything other but his composed self, so maybe everything’s okay. Maybe Makoto is okay.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you off duty?” Aomine asks when he reaches him.

“Yeah” Sousuke pants. He looks around, trying to see if Kagami is anywhere near. “What’s the situation?”

Aomine twists his mouth. “The right wing partly collapsed some time ago. I guess the house was empty of civilians, but there was a team of firefighters inside to check that was the case… I don’t know who were in that team. The rescuers are inside already – Taiga ran to tell me that a while ago.”

“What about Makoto?” Sousuke demands, panic rising again. Aomine looks away for a second.

“I don’t know, man.”

Sousuke feels his heart drop. This really is not happening. Aomine sees his stress, and reaches to him, comforting.

“Do not overthink this, please. Go find Taiga, he might know. They’re in different departments though, so I don’t know if - -”

But Sousuke is already jogging away, scanning the place, trying to find Kagami. There are so many firefighters, policemen and paramedics everywhere… It doesn’t seem that so many people were injured though. There are some paramedics taking care of some office workers with oxygen masks on their faces, but no one looks seriously injured. Sousuke keeps looking around, slowing his jog into a fast walk, keeping behind the yellow police line.

“Kagami!” Sousuke shouts as he sees him running past with a hose, sweat making his face shine.

“Yamazaki! You should not be here, you know!” Kagami shouts back, slowing his pace.

“Where’s Makoto?” Sousuke pleads. Kagami glances towards the burning building, and so does Sousuke. Some parts of it were still burning violently, some already well under control of the firefighters.

“He’s still inside.”

“Wha..What do you mean, still inside?!“ Sousuke panics.

Just then someone calls for Kagami, who jumps and looks towards the one calling. He curses under his breath.

“Sorry, I gotta run” Kagami shouts and spurts away, leaving Sousuke staring after him, numb. 

_He’s still inside_. Sousuke is looking at the burning building in a haze. He takes some weak steps, then slumps against a police car. _He’s still inside…_

He takes few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He knows that Makoto is a capable, experienced firefighter, and so are the others on his department. _Do not jump into the worst case scenario. Think._

Taking his thoughts under control again, Sousuke starts to look around to see who is in charge of the operation. Soon he spots some kind of a makeshift headquarters next to one fire truck. He walks closer, keeping on the other side of the police line. He can just hear what they are talking there. The one in charge of the operation seems to be Makoto’s department’s chief, and he is talking with someone through an earpiece and a microphone. Sousuke stops as close as he can, and his gaze wanders towards the burning house again. He can feel the heat, and there is some smoke on the air.

“Tachibana?” the chief says on the microphone, catching Sousuke’s attention. He snaps his head towards the chief, who is silently listening the one on the other end talk to his earpiece. “And what about Watanabe and Murasaki?” The chief listens some more. Sousuke is clenching his fists, opening and closing them repeatedly. The cold sweat of fear is tickling the back of his neck. Finally the chief raises his eyes and looks at the people around him. “There are two injured. Inform the paramedics. They should emerge from the south side of the building soon.” 

Sousuke’s whole body feels cold again. _Makoto is inside. Two are injured. No no no... Just let Makoto be okay…_

With a “Yes, Sir!” the firefighters scatter around the place. Sousuke watches one jog to the two pairs of paramedics standing nearby, clearly itching for some action. After exchanging few words, the paramedics gather their supplies and run with the firefighter towards the south side of the building where some other firefighters have already gathered.

Sousuke follows the yellow police line towards the place where the rescue team is supposed to emerge. He’s deaf to the cracking of the fire and the shouting of the firefighters, only focusing on the open doorway on the wall. Smoke is flooding out of the door, but there doesn’t seem to be any fires near. 

Sousuke gazes into the darkness of the building along with the firefighters and paramedics waiting near the exit. A few minutes go past, agonizingly slow.

Then there is some movement in the smoky shadows. Two people emerge from the doorway, then four more. The one moving on the head is supporting another firefighter, letting him lean on his shoulder. The other one has clearly injured his leg, and is limping. The four on the back are all carrying another firefighter, who seems to be unconscious. The firefighters waiting by the door rush to help their comrades. Sousuke is trying to see the faces of the ones who just emerged from the inside, trying to see Makoto, but they are all wearing helmets and gasmasks so it is no use. Sousuke is again starting to feel the panic in his bones, making his whole body feel hot and cold at the same time. _What if…What if it is Makoto who…_

Then the firemen finally take off the gasmasks, rubbing their faces. Sousuke recognizes Makoto immediately.

He was the firefighter who was supporting the limping one.

Sousuke falls on his knees from relief. _He’s okay. He’s okay._

Tears start to fell down his cheeks, as Sousuke watches Makoto lower the injured firefighter on the ground, to the care of the paramedics. He is shouting orders to the others around, rubbing sweat off his face and smudging ash all around on the process. Sousuke sees him crouch by the injured ones, asking the paramedics some questions, then sigh clearly relieved. 

Then he finally looks around, spotting Sousuke almost immediately. His eyes widen, and his mouth forms a small ‘o’. He recovers quickly, saying some words to his comrades, and then starts towards Sousuke who is still on his knees on the ground.

“Sousuke, what are you doing in here?” he asked as soon as he is close enough to talk on normal voice. The dark ash on his face makes his green eyes look like emeralds. He has opened his heavy jacket and taken off his helmet.

“I thought…Kagami said you were still inside…” Sousuke says on a shaky voice. 

Makoto crouches under the police line and kneels in front of Sousuke, putting the helmet on the ground next to them. Sousuke looks away, suddenly ashamed of his sorry mental state.

“Yeah, I was leading the rescue team. Watanabe and Murasaki were still inside when the second floor roof collapsed, and we needed to go help them out.” Makoto rubs his face again, making the ash smudge even more. “Sousuke, why aren’t you looking at me?”

Sousuke fights to stop the tears. He’s so relieved, but the fear of losing Makoto hasn’t yet totally loosened its grip on him.

“Hey” Makoto says gently, and reaches for Sousuke’s chin to turn his head, to make him look at him. “It’s okay.”

Sousuke bites his lip, but then looks into the sparkling green eyes. The tears start to roll down his cheeks again. Sousuke grabs the front of Makoto’s uniform, sobbing into his chest. “I was so scared” he manages breathe out.

Makoto wraps his arms around him, murmuring calming words into his ear. “It’s okay, I’m okay, shhh…”

Suddenly Sousuke is kissing Makoto, desperately. He has no recollection of moving into the kiss, but the warmth of Makoto’s mouth calms him like nothing else could right now. Makoto is clearly surprised, but he smiles against Sousuke’s lips, then answers to the kiss.

“Tachibana! We need you here!”

Makoto snaps back to reality, looking over his shoulder. “Sorry! Just a second!” he shouts as a reply. The he turns back to Sousuke and laughs. “Oh look, your face is all ashy now too…”

He reaches towards Sousuke’s cheek to rub some of the ash off. Sousuke leans his head to Makoto’s palm, and Makoto smiles and reaches to place a kiss on his nose. “I’m still needed there. Please go home, my shift is soon over and I don’t think they’ll need me to stay until the fire is out. So see you later?”

Sousuke smiles weakly. “Yeah. Okay.”

They get up, and Sousuke yanks Makoto to a tight hug. Makoto laughs, but hugs back. 

“Please stay safe” Sousuke whispers to Makoto’s ear.

“I’ll do my best” Makoto breathes in response.


End file.
